Science - USA (2022-04-08)

CREDITS: (PHOTO KATHY BRIANA; (GRAPHIC KELLIE HOLOSKI/

SCIENCE

BASED ON B. MARELLI

146 8 APRIL 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6589 science.org SCIENCE

INSIGHTS

Mission and research

Translation and impact

Materials design

and fabrication

New materials

to positively

affect society

Living matter

Coated No coating No coating Coated

Synthetic

structural

protein

Natural

structural

protein

Dopants to add

new functions

Tu b e s

Foams Fibers

Films and gelsParticles

Microneedles

Engineered forms and functions

Nanomanufacturing

PRIZE ESSAY

INNOVATION

Biomaterials for boosting

food security

Renewable silk-protein technologies promote

plant growth and reduce food waste

By Benedetto Marelli

I

n the 20th century, new material-based

technologies have positively affected

many aspects of human life—including

health management, communication,

education, and transport—as well as

improved our access to energy, water,

and food. Continued technological advance-

ments to improve quality of life must now

consider sustainability alongside mitigation

of and adaptation to climate change ( 1 ).

Scientists and engineers are looking to liv-

ing systems to learn how to translate sus-

tainability principles into material design.

Soft matter and structural biopolymers (e.g.,

polysaccharides, proteins, and DNA ) are

being used to design technologies that ad-

dress unmet challenges in the health, energy,

food, and education sectors. These natural

polymers are biomaterials that can be ex-

tracted in high volumes and at low cost from

by-products of food and textile industries

and upscaled into advanced materials (see

the figure).

There is wide interest in the develop-

ment of biomaterials, but their applica-

tion in agro-food systems (i.e., all actors

and activities involved in food production,

distribution, regulation, and consumption)

has lagged. The infrastructure of agro-food

systems is responsible for more than 25%

of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG)

emissions. These systems face pressure to

support an increasing world population

and to simultaneously minimize inputs

(e.g., water, fertilizers, pesticides) and mit-

igate environmental impact. For the first

time in history, the availability of arable

land has plateaued, and crop yields are

GRAND PRIZE WINNER

Benedetto Marelli

B enedetto

Marelli received

undergraduate

degrees from

Politecnico di

Milano and a

PhD from McGill

University. After completing

his postdoctoral fellowship at

Tufts University, he started his

laboratory in the Department

of Civil and Environmental En-

gineering at the Massachusetts

Institute of Technology in late

2015. His research focuses on
      nanomanufacturing of structural
      biopolymers to engineer a new
      generation of advanced materi-
      als that can be interfaced with
      food and plants. http://www.science.org/
      doi/10.1126/science.abo4233

F rom mission to materialization

The Marelli Laboratory’s long-term research mission flows into its general process to engineer structural

proteins in advanced biomaterials (top). New discoveries in biomaterials science spur the translation of new

solutions in agro-food systems. Examples of these are the use of silk fibroin–based technology as an edible

food coating (bottom left) to extend perishable produce shelf life in kale and as a seed coating (bottom right) to

deliver biofertilizers that boost germination and mitigate soil salinity.

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